[Updated] The F1 driver market is starting to kick into gear for next season with the logjam over who will drive for Lotus appearing close to clearing.

Although Pastor Maldonado remains tight lipped, it seems that he has signed or is about to sign for Lotus for next year, Venezuelan oil backer PDVSA having reached an agreement with Williams over severance.

“At the moment I don’t have any confirmation. We will see later. I hope to have a clearer idea before the end of the season,” said Maldonado in Abu Dhabi this afternoon.

“There is a lot of speculation. It’s not signed. It’s still quite early.

“I want to be competitive, to have a competitive car and get good results like we did last year.”

Most sponsor contracts have performance clauses in them and with Williams have scored only one point in 2013, which is likely to be short of the baseline expectation. The suggestion is that PDVSA will be able to exit the deal without paying a significant amount of compensation.

Williams is in talks with Felipe Massa among others, while Valtteri Bottas looks set to stay with the team. GP2 championship contender and Mercedes reserve driver Sam Bird’s name is also in the frame, with support from Mercedes, who will supply Williams powertrains next season.

Lotus boss Eric Boullier said in India that either Maldonado or Nico Hulkenberg will occupy the seat next to Romain Grosjean. Hulkenberg’s other option is Force India or staying where he is at Sauber.

He’s had a strong season, but his bodyweight has been cited as a disadvantage next season with the advent of the new hybrid turbo powertrains, which add a lot of weight to the car. Hulkenberg’s signature was dependent on the investment coming in from the Quantum Group, which has turned into a protracted saga. Boullier has been anxious for his board to make a decision so he does not lose the chance to hire the highest quality driver available.

It is conceivable that Hulkenberg will find himself still standing when the game of musical chairs concludes and the music stops..

Meanwhile Max Chilton could be on the move. The Marussia team would like to keep him, but he is also in talks with Force India for whom he has driven in Young Driver tests before making his race debut this year. Also in the frame at Force India is McLaren protege Kevin Magnussen. McLaren could place the Dane alongside Jules Bianchi at Marussia, but would prefer a car further up the grid. Force India is leaving all its options open and has said it will not announce drivers until December.

Paul di Resta is in an anxious position as the Force India seat looks an attractive option to several drivers with budget. His strong relationship was via Mercedes and former motorsport director Norbert Haug, who was replaced in that role by Toto Wolff last Christmas.

The Force India team has always prided itself on taking drivers on merit rather that for budget reasons, although Adrian Sutil brings some funding from Medion and Capri Sun.

Marussia meanwhile, already has Jules Bianchi under contract for next season, a supply of Ferrari powertrains and now some commercial income from the central F1 prize fund thanks to tying up a bilateral agreement with Bernie Ecclestone and CVC last week.

What makes you so sure Williams will outperform Lotus next year? Do you have that much confidence that the Merc engine (oops sorry- I mean Power Unit) will be so much better than the Renault one?
Can’t be based on resources as Williams will now be far worse off than Lotus next year with transfer of PDVSA money to Lotus

PDVSA are having legal troubles and may not front the cash for crashdinado. Massa’s money backing is set to replace PDVSA from what ive heard. If Massa gets Williams seat, gets his mojo back, some good tech heads and Merc power things could come good for ol Frank

I am not so sure Hulk can even stay put. One seat is going to the young Russian with a fat wallet, and the other one will probably be occupied by Gutierrez (with an equally fat wallet). At this rate poor old Hulk will be without a drive next season – very sad state of affairs

It’s rather a sad state of affairs regarding the Hulk, and leads me to say that F1 needs to drop the phrase, ” the best drivers in the world, ” to the best monied drivers in the world need only to apply.
If Nico doesn’t get a seat as you say Tim, then the Scuderia and Dominecali should immediately hire him as their reserve driver, in the event that the teaming of Alonso and Raikkonen doesn’t work out.

If their engine is slower and they can’t improve the aero again, then surely Alonso and maybe Kimi will have had enough, epsecially with McLaren Honda waiting in the wings.

If Alonso consistently beats Kimi on Sundays and Kimi struggles on Saturdays, which is by no means definite, Alonso could still leave and Kimi could be in a similar situation to the end of 08/09.

There also seems to be a natural assumption, from di Monty also, that no matter what, Vettel will go to Ferrari. Well, if they are not at the front next year they why would Seb want to go to Ferrari, especially if they are 3rd/4th/5th best. Why stop any chance of matching Schumis record and join a team that cannot move forward like others throughout a season.

Hulk or di Resta at Ferrari ’15 is a possibility, unless things get so bad that the big pay drivers start getting their wallets/companies/countries into the larger teams as well. ;(

@Clarks..
There also seems to be a natural assumption, from di Monty also, that no matter what, Vettel will go to Ferrari..

I made the exact same point on another thread. SV knows exactly which side his bread is buttered. He even extended his RBR contract by a further year when the new regulations were delayed – this gives him a good chance to see the lie of the land. If Ferrari are still performing at their current level, and RBR and SV are still winning the championships he would be mad to walk away.

I think Hulk may end up at Force India, he knows the team, it looks like there’s no seat at Sauber , with Sirotkin and Gutierrez looking likely to be there next year. With Maldonado looking like going to Lotus, then I guess that leaves him only the choice of Force India , but there again, it maybe that the weight issue may prevent him gaining a drive, which he has more than earned for next season.

If your report is correct, then I would agree with you that Gutierrez is unlikely to retain the seat – he hasn’t exactly set the world alight this season and without backing, it’s difficult to see what differentiates him from a number of other drivers.

If Sauber does not have Hulk next year, they will most likely not collect any points and sink to the bottom 3. They will lose at least 10M prize money compared to this year. Their reputation and team morale will take a hit. I am afraid that will be the end of Sauber. They will probably disappear soon after.

I agree Phil, Lotus is doing well but they where running a tight ship till now with a strong technical team. With the head of this team already in Ferrari, with shaky finances as demonstrated by the non payments to Raikonnen a few months ago, this is a team that is more likely to go down than up.

Hulk is a strong driver, he should remain with Sauber to keep the link open with Ferrari, as the seat of Alonso is looking to open in 2015. He is still very young and talented, he needs to be a bit more patient and he will get the timing to be on his side.

Today Kimi said he has not been paid a single Euro as of now. Hulk should not go to Lotus next year, he will be worse off than staying put. Cab Sauber afford not to have him next year? Well, if Sauber wants to score any points they better be.

This is the same Lotus that will get a much bigger share of the F1 financial pie as a result of finishing the season so high up in the constructors championship, and the same Williams that have scored a massive one point all year?

Lotus are still very much within sight of finishing second in the WCC this year, and we all know that second means a lot of money.

Much as I’d love to see Williams back at the top, it seems almost as likely as Nuvolari winning the WDC next year.

If Lotus end up behind Williams over the course of next year, I will have my hat buttered and ready. Will you do the same if Lotus finish ahead of Williams?

Is it possible they are using this story to help negotiate a better deal from Total? They could have leaked it saying PDVSA are willing to pay 30 mill then Total up their bid to match it. Nothing has been officially confirmed so I assume they are still in negotiations

There is no guarantee that PDVSA can continue to send money out of the country given the stability of the Venezuela government. As the Lotus owner, would you gamble on this? Over 2+ years Hulk had 27 top ten compared to Pastor’s 7 top ten. In terms of RET Pastor had twice as many than Hulk. As well, Pastor had many penalties and reprimand than Hulk over the same period of time.

[mod]You may not be a fan of MAS (nor am I), but it’s foolish to suggest that he wouldn’t be a net positive to Williams.
He’s consistently performed compared to most of his peers in cars that didn’t suit his style. He’s smart and articulate, so he could certainly bring some technical/developmental insights to the team.
It would be a good place for him to wind down, and they could do way worse. Actually they have been doing way worse on driver signings for years.

I think it’s dreadful if Lotus take Maldonado (and his $$$) over the well-deserving Hulk.
Grosjean, who is just beginning to shine, and brightly at that, within likely one of the best environments in the grid, will have the same rude awakening that Filipe got, when Alonso went to Ferrari, that is, Kimi’s not so bad as a team mate.
I expect the good times and good chemistry to end at Lotus, as their carbon-fibre operations realize, ‘hey, Grosjean wasn’t all that bad, after all!’

If you’re talking about GP2 you have to know what Pastor did in GP2 does not come anywhere close to what Hulk did there which include a points gap of 25 to the runner up Petrov and 64 points clear of his Team-mate “Pastor Maldonado”

Hulkenberg should definitely have a decent drive but Maldonado has proven he can win in a quick car so he deserves the Lotus drive. If Maldonado wasn’t F1 quality he wouldn’t have been able to hold off Alonso throughout the 2012 Spanish GP; under such conditions, a sub par driver would have thrown it in the sand. Maldonado, Grosjean and Hulkenberg are the future stars of Formula 1.

no.
I am not convinced that the pluses of having Mal as a driver outweigh the cons, at all, quite the opposite.
Grosjean and Hulkenberg are the rising stars of that generation.
I’m not sure all is known about that dramatic statistical variance in Barcelona.

I’d have to agree. Grosjean and Maldonado have broadly similar terms of experience in F1. But it seems as if Grosjean has finally turned the corner and is putting his experience in F1 to good use and it performing well. Maldonado is still making too many errors – both driving ones in terms of spins and crashes, but also errors of judgement such as the move he put on Bottas in Japan.

I do rate Hulkenberg too and I cannot see why McLaren wouldn’t sign him alongside Button if they could.

I’d be surprised if Williams weren’t talking to him, but if they need the sponsorship money that they’re losing with PDVSA, then the rumoured $10m that comes with Massa would be helpful.

Kate Walker on ESPN’s website is leaning towards Paul Di Resta not being in F1 next year. That would free up another seat at Force India. Add to that the stories last weekend that Sirotkin might not get a seat at Sauber next year… and that Petrov might be drafted in to that seat because of the Russian sponsorship the team has signed up with, and it looks like Hulkenberg’s only real options are:

Sauber if the team get rid of Guttierez, but I was under the impression he brought TelMex money with him?

Force India to replace Sutil or Di Resta

McLaren in the place of Perez, but I reckon that’s unlikely.

Williams, but nobody seems to think that’s an option or it would have been rumoured.

Lotus. I reckon this will happen if the Quantum sponsorship money comes through or if Lotus manage to get P2 in the Constructors’ championship – then they might not need a driver’s personal sponsorship money as much.

LMAO.. This is exactly what Lotus deserve. Grosjean is a very fast driver- but it takes him forever to adjust to new tyres, car. He might win a few races — but I will stick my neck out and say – he will not even come close to being a world champion – he makes idiotic decisions on track – even when he’s having a great race – like India and even more idiotic comments off track like his defense of incidents this year and last year. Then he wonders why Kimi doesn’t talk to him ? ( not that Kimi talks that much anyway)
Given a good car I can see Maldonado doing well at Lotus ( in the mid pack)and I can see the tangles of all tangles between these 2 on track many times!- I see them as “twins” in terms of mentality and racing style and actually given what Maldonado did in Spain last year- I think he’s a real chance to beat Romain occasionally .
Either way Lotus will not go forward next year – they will be lucky to hold ground but more likely to go backwards quickly. Given the embarrassment of India and the signing of two crash test dummies- if I was Quantum I would think twice about throwing them a nickel!!.The irony is- had Lotus retained Raikkonen – Quantum would have signed. – I think this was why Lotus was so burned- and the Rabbit tweet..Had Quantum signed Raikkonen he may have stayed- but I’m glad he didn’t because Permaine is twit and Lotus of lack strategy sense even if they build a good car.

Elie, I just watched FP2.
I predict a Grosjean pole for Abu Dhabi, and I would be surprised if he finally gets the win.
To be perfectly honest, I am not sure why I have such a strong negative reaction to Mal, but he always seems to bring a dark cloud over everything around him; Williams?!?
Yes, Lotus have made some mistakes, and they never have really got it all together, at least on a regular basis.
But, look at what they have done, compared with the other top four teams, on a fraction of the budget.
While Grosjean continues to display errors in judgement, he is trending well, upwards, and I expect him to continue that path.
As for what to expect from Lotus next year, who knows? They could dial into an innovation, that no one else gets, and is difficult to replicate mid-season, and do very well.
Next year is wide open.
But I agree, on the prospects of Lotus’ fate next year, if they get the man that makes everything go worse.

1. has HULK changed Manager these years? I cannot understand his bad luck, or is it a matter of how the negotiations were carried out? Do you have an opinion about what managers can do with little or not sponsor in the bag when they have to look for a seat?

2. if you were an investor like Quantum, do you buy a participation of Lotus BEFORE or AFTER a big sponsor like PDVSA commit his funds? I think in theory maybe it’s the same (if the team has already the sponsor maybe the price of the participation is higher?). Anyway I think is always better to have PDVSA… so maybe MALDONADO is already in the Lotus seat and HULK out, again…

Rumours are that the Quantun deal fell through, so Lotus is turning to Maldonado and PDVSA to fill the gap. But then there is the problem of the TOTAL sponsorship.
I believe Hulk will stay put or sign with Force India, as has been rumoured, in order to keep his options open for Ferrari. Do not be surprised if Ferrari fields the Hulk-Bianchi duo on 2016.

Is Hulkenberg really all that special? Surely if he was, other teams (and especially top teams) would be wanting to snap him up despite weight penalties, sponsorship etc. After all, his ties to McLaren and Mercedes have never amounted to anything.

Has he honestly set the world alight in F1? His recent upturn in form is really an upturn in form of his Sauber, as the team have made advances (a little late in the game) on their use of exhaust gases. Aside from that he’s just a good driver, with an eviable reputation in lower formulae, beating a less experienced team-mate.

Maldonado isn’t a bad prospect for Lotus. He has one lap pace (which could couter-act some of the weakness in their car/approach to qualifying), and he’s proven that when the big chance comes along (ie – Spain) he can grab it with both hands and hold on to it to the finish. Also, given how the team have nurtured Grosjean from his earlier days as a wrecking ball with a V8 and wings, they might well be good for Maldonado’s personality and driving style as well. To be fair to him, he always seems ambitious, driven and aggressive.

He has matched Barrichello (an experienced driver) in his rookie season, and got pole position in that Williams. He matched / marginally out-performed di Resta (another proven driver), and was in contention for a win in the Force India. He has destroyed Gutierrez this year, and not just finished in the points, but has finished right up in the top 4 and 5 in a Sauber which is good, but not that good.

Aside from a slightly fortunate pole in Brazil, I don’t think Hulk matched Rubens at all in 2010. I do remember him kicking a tyre wall in Valencia while Barrichello dragged a Williams Cosworth into the points…

On an unrelated note. As teams have to pay X amount of money per point to participate in the next season, shouldn’t Red Bull be trying to not score any more points, as these would simply be an unneeded cost. Or, is there prize money from each individual race which makes it worth it?

Great question- I have been wondering about that for a while. This seems to be an obvious loophole/potential in this new payment formula. James can you confirm the specifics on this- any reason RBR should try and score more points if each one costs them money?

Advertising. Finishing 1st and 2nd and making the papers and media articles is the best advertising you can get. The money which RBR will pay for the points earned from now until the end of season is peanuts compared with the revenue they will get from advertising.

I am talking about finishing 1st and 2nd every race..not at the end of the season. The papers are published every day/week, not every year.
The more advertising, the more chances of your product being sold, which in this case is the Red Bull can of energy drink.

I don’t really know. His Dad is the Chairman, or CEO, of an international insurance company. He will obviously be well off as a result of that, but he will also know a lot of other people in similar positions, which may give him access to sponsorship – just a guess, doubtless, someone on here will know the answer.

I think that’s spot on. Infiniti etc don’t care if mateschitz has to cough up a few extra million to enter – they are pouring in giant sums of money for TV exposure – besides can you see Red Bull trying to get Vettel to throw his own race statistics? They can’t even stop him trying for fastest laps when he’s already won by a mile

It is the drivers that pay per point for their superlicense. So, Kimi certainly has no reason to bother collecting points as every point he earns for Lotus in the WCC will cost him an extra €1,000, and he has shown he doesn’t give a crap about Lotus.

But he didn’t get paid that bonus amount per point. Now that he leaves Lotus, he can sue them if they fail to pay, but for sure Kimi don’t want Lotus to be 2nd and get more money than Ferrari, giving that he is going to Ferrari next year.
And certainly not after they shout at him on the team radio.

What makes Kimi’s position more complicated is that whatever his current employer, Lotus, stands to gain financially will come at the expense of his future employer, Ferrari. Would Kimi be happy with Lotus coming second in the constructor’s championship, and Ferrari fourth, or would he rather have it the other way around?

Of course, one has to assume that he is “professional” enough to race as well as he can, but the situation will doubtlessly have an impact on his motivation.

Given that Lotus didnt pay Kimi until the seasons end in ’12 and now it seems Kimi must sue them to get this years salary, the “don’t give a crap (or a pound)” is on the side of the team owners?

Lotus should be able to pay Kimi due to their racing sucess which is driven by him to a degree and his results. Still Maldonado cash would assure the Raikkonnen account will be paid!

Kimi’s performance this year and last has been exceptional by any standard, and he is rightly in the top four best drivers out there.

I prefer Hulk over Maldonado, but the Hulk has switched teams a few times already, and it seems to me that this is not liked by the Team owners unless the river has achieved a high level of success. For example, Button couldn’t find a rive anywhere as Honda languished and went out of the series. If Ross had not been there, Button could have easily slid through the cracks to DTM…

The cost is not enough to bother mid tier teams and above in normal years. Sure this year many mid tier teams would probably want to save $1M here or there, if they could not change their constructors position.
But in racing you would rather have the stats (wins, podiums, etc) than the unspent money.

Staying in F1 you could maybe make an argument. He had a difficult start, and I don’t think he’ll ever win races, but he is learning and at least he’s been getting better.

BUT a promotion?! To Force India?! Even if he brings money I don’t see the logic at all – unless it is as a test driver (that might not be a bad move). It would set a very disappointing precedent to have him leapfrog over several drivers who, in terms of achievement, appear to be more qualified for the position (of a race seat).

I’ve wondered this – perhaps the explanation is that Chilton is pretty good but Bianchi is just awe inspiring but lined up for Ferrari in 2-3 years. (I’m not convinced personally I think it’s just Chiltons family sponsorship money but if it was a charitable guess!)

In fact they pay for the Lotus name !! Guess I shouldn’t be surprised if their changing it!. But so doubt they will given how much effort and cost to get the branding. If they end up without Major sponsors and no Hulk then it’s possible

Very unfortunate news for everyone other than Maldonado. Lack of funds are another nail in Williams coffin. Lack of proven drivers are another in Lotus. Toto Wolf is a snake, not looking good for for PDR. Although I am not a fan of Hulkenberg there is little doubt he is a fantastic talent and it would be criminal for him to miss out on a decent seat.

Unfortunate this, I would really have liked to see Hulk in the Lotus. Still, Pastor’s won more races than Grosjean has and is far from a bad drive, he’s also not been crashing into all and sundry this year either.

I don’ believe I mentioned DNF’s in regard to 2012. It’s an undisputed fact that he ran into other drivers in kack handed moves in Monaco, Canada, Europe, UK, Germany and Hungary at least. It’s pretty much undisputed that his failure to score any points between his Spanish win and the Japanese GP is almost entirely down to him (lack of car’s pace in Italy and Singapore hydraulic failure aside).

I truly believe Lotus will drop to mid field next year, with James Allison and other top technical talents leaving. In this business top engineering talents are not easy to come by and as such they cannot be easily replaced. As well, one of the key element of developing the car is the feedback of the driver and with Pastor/Romain working along the new technical team, I have serious doubt that they will get it right. Therefore it is better for Hulk to stay at Sauber and wait for opening in 2015. I believe there will be opportunities at McLaren and Ferrari come 2015. This year Hulk has made his salary 10 times over by single-handedly vaulting Sauber from 9th position to 7th position and as a result Sauber gets to collect at least 10M more prize money. He is worth his weight in gold.

You could be right. The investors in Lotus must be having some sleepless nights.

Things do look rather uncertain. All the talk about securing finances and making good the money they owe Kimi – still hasn’t been sewn-up after all this time.

When Kimi signed for Ferrari I thought he may have acted too hastily, since Lotus were close to securing financing.

We are now in November and still no news on the financing?

Looks like Kimi made the right call.

Not sure how much 2014 car development is possible with financing so tight?

One can punch above their weight with a reasonable but not RB sized budget. But if you can’t pay for a good driver like Kimi and have to resort to pay drivers like Maldonado, it doesn’t have the right ingredients for a Top 4 team.

I couldn’t agree more, I think Lotus are in decline at the moment, and I think Sauber would actually be a better bet next year for Hulkenberg. Lotus are obviously in dire need of cash, and its a reflection of their current predicament that they need to hire Maldonado. I imagine they will be in the Midfield scrap next year with Sauber anyway.

If Hulk stays at Sauber and keeps performing miracles with it, his day will come. Some drivers have a faster path to the top than others – Jenson had 9 years in F1 before becoming world champ, so there’s plenty of time for Hulk yet, provided he can keep his seat in the midfield for now.

You may be very right, one thing is to make a well born single seater evolve (the E21), which seems to be feasible by any good engineer. And another is to create one from scratch, under a completely new set of rules. James Allison is not there any more. The forecast looks gloomy.

It would be ridiculous if drivers like Di Resta, Perez and Hulkenberg are left without a drive. Also, there are drivers outside F1 with experience scoring podiums like Petrov and Kovalainen who deserve another chance ahead of Gutierez, Pic, van der Garde and Chilton. I would like to see Kevin Magnussen and Jaime Alguarsuarri given a go.

Maldonado isn’t liked (personality wise), but the facts are he showed real speed and potential in 2012.

A few front row starts in a Williams and his performance in Spain was textbook. If Alonso/Hamilton had pulled that off that win in a Williams it would have gone down as one of the greatest ever drives. Because it’s Maldonado it’s seen as a bit flukey.

Sure Hulkenberg is a real talent too, but it’s not night and day between them both speed wise.

If I was Hulkenberg now I’d go to Whitmarsh and offer to drive for nothing in 2014.

They would still go for Pérez because he has money and McLaren is finding it tough like the other teams. The few teams who are not cash poor are part of other businesses. I think hulk should try for test role at McLaren next year with an option for buttons or Pérez’s seat in 2015 as the engines are free and they will have more cash as I guess the Honda tie up will bring sponsors rushing through the door.

I can’t see Button going anywhere until he’s had enough of F1. He loves Honda and Japan and Honda love him, He’s well liked at Mclaren and he seems to like it there, so although they’ve not done well this year, I don’t see JB quitting until he’s had another good shot at the title, probably in 2016

I have been a big fan of Lotus for a while, as they have always managed to be competitive on a smaller budget, if (and it seems to be true) they have taken CRASHtor Maldonado over Nico. i will simply loose respect for them.
(not that they will care they get the PDVSA Money, worth more than my arm chair support i guess)

You know something? I mostly agree with you.
This would be an very big blunder.
Pastor is a very good driver (his win at Monmeló was well deserved), but the Hulk is a champion in the making.
James, are there any people in the F1 community who doubt about Quantum Motorsports existing at all?

Of course, they “exist”. They are the renamed “infinity racing”, a major shareholder of the Lotus team. What Lotus needs, and what has so far not been forthcoming, is more money from the people behind the group poured into the team.

“Quantum” or “infinity” isn’t a normal sponsor, in the sense that it’s not a brand that sees F1 sponsorship as a marketing opportunity. It’s a front for a group of rich private investors, whose motives and behaviour are difficult to predict.

Boullier said last week or two weeks back, that he wants Hulk and has sent the proposal to his board, and it still hasn’t been done yet!
Now, we have Maldonado with his $30M funding, surely an attractive option for cash strapped Lotus!

Maldonado to Lotus & Chilton to Force India are both entirely undeserved moves if they happen.

Of Bianchi and Chilton at Marussia, how is it possible that Chilton is the one Force India are in talks with? Crazy. After failing to give Bianchi a drive for this season you would think they’d want to correct that mistake, not hammer it home by signing a guy who hasn’t been able to touch Bianchi all year.

What’s that you say? Chilton’s Dad is rich? Oh, that explains that then…..

Chilton has a good record of bringing the car home, hasn’t he? Ok, that’s arguably easy to do when you start out of everyone’s way at the back, but I’d still argue he deserves some credit for not binning it into the barriers too many times.

Despite all his criticism I can understand why a driver who brings the car home is of value to a team like Force India. A solid midfield team banks more points from a tortoise than a hare.

Please, for the sake of sport, don’t give this guy a Lotus seat
Not only it would be injust to Hulkeberg, as it would set the ugly precedent where a poor driver gets a good car, just for the sake of money
Also, this guy doesn’t even deserve a Marussia car, he’s reckless, dangerous and a poor, poor sportsman
People talked about how dangerous Grosjean is/was some time ago, but I think Maldonado is a much worse case scenario
I say this, because most of Grosjean’s incidents were for him being rookie and clumsy, whereas Maldonado incidents happened with a cold heart calculation, not caring the slightest bit for other’s safety
There are 2 drivers who should see F1 exit door, Maldonado and Massa, but I’ll take 2 Massa’s to 1 Maldonado any day!!!

I understand your sympathy for Massa, I also had it for some time, due to his accident, but enough is enough
I believe a true racer, or at least a true professional, has to deliver everytime, not only when his seat is in danger, and that’s what’s been happening with Massa repeatedly in the last few years towards the end of a season
I also don’t like much his way of defending a position, where he inevitably forces a driver off track, otherwise creates a crash.
He’s had a great car for too long, and now his whining and pressure on Bernie to get him a seat for 2014 because he’s Brazilian
( http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/9001234/Massa-fears-for-Brazil-s-place-in-F1 )
Why should one get a seat on count of his nationality? Is it because of Senna? Fangio was Argentine, and I don’t see Argentines on the grid.
Anyway, having said that, I would much rather see Massa in 2014, in a Marussia or Caterham, than Maldonado anywhere else

Maldonado to Lotus… It’s almost disturbing.
Irrespective of the fact that Hulkenburg either stays where he is or goes back to Force India, the fact that Pastor Maldonado gets into a Lotus seat is truly bizarre, how do his performances since he debuted 3 years ago remotely justify this, apart the race win last season?

Think about it Lotus would replace Kimi Raikkonen with Pastor Maldonado !!!!! At a time when drivers like Hulkenburg and Massa are available.

Wonder why Lotus can’t get their financial act together given their recent success. There must be a deeper rooted problem.
Maybe it’s just as well that the Hulk won’t get a seat there. At least Sauber and FI know how good he is and are willing to take him on merit. Always a bridesmaid- never a bride.

I am not often really disappointed with anything in F1 but this is one of those rare times.

It just seems unreal that Hulk just mises out year after year. I suppose it is made all the worse because each new team he moves to under performs when he gets there and the team he just left makes improvements.

Don’t forget the two he’s out raced Bianchi have been DNF and one of the qualifying Bianchi was pretty much a non-starter at Monaco. He had been annihilated by Bianchi. Chilton is a nice guy, but has been thoroughly trounced.

I know Maldonado has significant financial backing but considering Lotus in theory could still finish 2nd and be the 2nd best team this season, a pay driver shouldn’t be necessary for them.
Yes this years Williams is not a good car, but a driver can only properly be measured against his team mate as they have the same cars. In order for Maldonado to show his ability he needed to comprehensibly out perform his (albeit rating highly) rookie team mate but he has not been able to do this, they have been quite similar in qualifying and race results. Where as Hulkenberg has comprehensibly outperformed his team mate all season.

Hulkenberg seems like hes genuinely has the potential to be one of the top drivers in f1, I’m not sure what he needs to do in order for a top team to give him a chance.

Any idea James on what the options could be for Hulkenberg now? Any other team options for 2014 or could he possibly take a year out with a view to joining a team for 2015, potentially Ferrari if Alonso joins Mclaren?
Also wont the PDVSA sponsorship conflict with total?

It will be a sad momment if this happens. Can’t believe that Maldonado gets to get out of his current contract in favor of a better drive, like he’s a celebrated world champion, and Hulk who has impressed time and time again, gets to pick whatever is left, or maybe isn’t in the grid next year, and I’m not even a fan of his…

I thought Pastor is also talking to Sauber.
So he could end up there as Sauber also needs funding. So Hulk can still be with Lotus next year if he can wait for Lotus to close the deal with Quantum which according to Boullier will be soon.

PDVSA is a petrol company. Total who sponsors Lotus and, as far as I remember, sponsors Grosjean a bit as well is also a petrol company.
Are they going to have two competitors sponsoring the same team? Or could Grosjean lose his seat if Maldonado comes in?

Yes, PDVSA and Total are both oil companies, and competitors, but they don’t operate in the same consumer markets, so I don’t see a problem with them both sponsoring the same team. Besides, PDVSA is a state-owned company from Venezuela, and their motives for sponsoring F1 can hardly be described as commercial (the rear of the car even reads “Venezuela”, not PDVSA). As long as he doesn’t fall out of favour with the regime, wherever Maldonado goes, they will follow.

It underscores how fragile F1 team’s finances are at the moment, when a top team is (what seems on paper) having to make driver choices on the strength of their incoming budget. It’s always been like that, but not so evident from recent memory with a ‘top’ team. It’s a worry when drivers of the Hulk’s calibre might miss out to Maldo’s bags of cash.

Lotus will go down slowly but surely with two less-experienced drivers who think after one win and a few good results that they are already up there with the big guns.Reality will hit them hard. Shame, I liked what they achieved with Kimi, but after the Ferrari-Kimi partnering they started to prefer Romain against Kimi openly. It was a mistake.

Why don’t lotus change their name to a title sponsor who will pay them insted of Group Lotus who pay nothing. Come on Genin Group surely you can get a great sponsor in and take on the Hulk rather than Maldonado just because he gives you some money. Think they really messed up when they decided to fight Tony Fernandes in the courts

I think only Webber has had worse luck than Di Resta this season and even then, I think Paul has the right to complain more than most. If it had been Hulk taking 4th in Bahrain everyone would have been in raptures.

Maldonado has speed, he has shown quite a few times over last season and this season. Yes he has had quite a few crazy crashes, so has Grosjean and Grosjean is a good example of how a driver can clean up their racecraft. It’s a massive disappointment that it’s Hulkenberg who will miss out but I rate Maldonado quite highly.

Kimi did Lotus no favours when he publicised they had a problem paying him, NOT the disclosure you want when negotiating with a new investor!! No wonder some of the team are fed up (livid?) with him. It’s absolutely no surprise that Quantum is taking their time. But how about Pasta and Hulk at Lotus paid for by PVDSA and RoGro to Mclaren? Romain is actually the form man of the moment and he’s a similar build to Jension…you read it here first. (:-)

Raikkonen did absolutely nothing wrong. It was well known last year right down to season end that he wasn’t paid. It is no surprise to anyone that he was not paid again because Lotus pay at season end when they get their prize money. He did not seem overly concerned by it when he was asked saying that it’s “not ideal but Im sure at some point it would be sorted.. Like last year ..” His concern was mostly the teams funding for the new car, and technical assurances,To build and develop the new car with limited funding !
That’s where him not being paid last year and not been paid this year differed ! and why he rightly signed elsewhere. Lotus had their problems when Allison left earlier and it’s not lost on me that since then Boullier has been “negotiating”with Infinity partners. We’ve seen drivers (Kimi includes) loose F1 drives for waiting too long to negotiate a drive..yet people are still dumb enough to criticise.

Fans/ critics alike can all of a sudden be judgemental about this situation when the truth be told they would scream blue murder if their next pay cheque was not paid- and that’s something that was not he deal breaker for Raikkonen ( last year was evidence of this) how very Hypocritical !

Lotus s popularity has boomed upon the return of the iceman and they have enjoyed unrivalled attention. Lotus inability to give Kimi the assurances that any good driver would want ahead of a tough new formula is the only thing that highlighted the problems they have , that and the fact – they had already lost their lead technical director.

There have been many eg this year alone which showed me Lotus/ Boullier were desperate to build Romain up- often at the expense of they lead driver – that told me they have the wrong strategic mentality . The lost opportunities and hurt feelings bourne out of Kimis impending departure
and the blatant and rather stupid prejudice of Kimi in India make the decision for Kimi to leave Lotus all the more assured.

As for Grosjean going anywhere – you have to be pretty simple to miss the point that Eric Boullier and Lotus have been building him up to lead the team now that Kimi is leaving.. Well guess what – good luck with that and Maldonado or Hulkenburg.. They have bigger problems than drivers to sort out

Elite, lots of “well known” insight in your response that those of us who are “dumb” and “simple” did not have access to, however my point remains that the popular millionaire Kimi had no need to air the payment issue in the blunt way he did. I totally get why he signed for Ferrari, why wouldn’t he? I agree with you totally that Lotus have bigger problems than drivers right now….your surname isn’t Robertson is it?

When the press asks you – “we know Lotus are failing to pay suppliers and staff. Have you been paid Kimi”- and he says- ” it’s not ideal and I’m sure it will be sorted at some point..last year it was a similar thing but in the end was ok”- isn’t the thing that gives anyone nightmares is it”

An idea to sort the pay drivers out would be that the teams have a set amount of money that need filling by the drivers sponsors. The team should then have an open weekend and give all the drivers a chance and who is fastest gets the seat. But the entrance fee is split between all the drivers sponsors and the sponsors pay even if their driver doesn’t get the drive. So drivers with less budget get a chance and all the sponsors get on the team.

I guess F1 did start off as a hobby for wealthy gentleman drivers – so its evolving back to its roots.

It’s not too bad – the Top 4 teams (assuming McLaren catch back up) vie for the championships; while wealthy tycoons who can afford F1 teams as their hobbies, and pay drivers make up the rest of the grid.

I read below on another site today. I thought you got the panalty for the current GP. For example, I use the 9th engine for this weekend’s GP, I get pushed back on the grid 10 spots before start. Not at next GP in US. Clearly, everyone should use a 9th engine in Brazil as panalty doesn’t carry over season to season. A bit of a strange rule, allowing richer teams to take a 9th engine without worries, while midfielders won’t buy an engine for 1 GP.

>
If a driver is forced to use more than their eight-unit limit, a 10-place grid penalty will be issued by the governing body for the next event, unless this occurs in the final race.

“Each driver may use no more than eight engines during a championship season. Should a driver use more than eight engines, he will drop 10 places on the starting grid of the event at which an additional unit is to be used.”

I think Hulk made a stupid move going to Sauber this year. He is out of there next year and his only option now is at Force India. The team that gave him his first drive in F1, is the team that he back stabbed to go to Sauber.
Karma is a *&^ch – you better believe it.
He’s certainly better than Sutil and DiResta – and i think Sutil and Hulk will be a decent combo for Force India.

Why would Pastor want to bring $30m to a broke team just so they can tell him to “get out of the F*@king way”? With the changes in regulations, Mercedes allegedly having a leg on the competition, plus Symonds on board, isn’t he better off staying put? Or is Todt Jr trying to have the cake and eat it too?

Force India need do what Vijay is so proud of and sign up by far their best option with Di Resta and Hulkenberg.

Then they just need a car roughly equal to the Sauber, Lotus, Torro Rosso, Williams for PdR and Hulk to do the rest and give them a thumping and a lesson in pay drivers over good drivers.

Heck if Force India produce a car slightly better than this and as long as Pirelli don’t alter the tyres mid-season then PdR and Hulk could take it to McLaren and Ferrari next year.

If you take PdRs first half of 2013 in the not bad Force India, prior to the tyre change, and take Hulks second half 2013 in the fairly good much improved Sauber, you have the perfect upcoming driver performances.

Two young drivers with good experience that will push each other onwards as they did before – it’s a no brainer for Vijay. He’s lucky the muppets in the other teams have signed guys like Perez, Guitierrez and Maldonado instead of snapping up PdR and Hulk when they should.

Thats going to be a big mistake getting Maldonado , instead Massa or Hulk! Hope those two get a seat and beat up those paying drivers on the grid! BTW, that radio between Kimi and Permane… that yell was just unnecessary, totally agree with Kimi, not going to Abu Dhabi today!

Honestly i really feel sorry for the smaller teams. I can understand why they go for a driver with a fat wallet. its kind of been stuck between a rock and a hard place. I know its not F1 but maybe they will go down the MOTOGP route and have sattelite teams in the future becuase the smaller teams are just going to come and go. I surely hope Williams do not fall into that bracket. Then thy could potentiall employ a driver on merrit and not how fat your wallet is.
Also, thanks James for an awesome website

How much money does PDVSA pour into Williams at the moment?
Lotus have got to way up whether the money can justify the points lost. I rate the Hulk as the second best driver in F1 at the moment. Him along with a performing RoGro would certainly go some way to filling the points gap that Kimi will leave. surely!?
Sad state the F1 finds itself in.

Well.. I think if Maldonado buys the seat at Lotus and Chilton buys the seat at Force India that might be the end of F1 viewing from me. I know F1 is more about business than sport now, but it sucks that talent no longer means the best drivers sit in the best seats.

The whole sport suffers. Maldonado has driven 1 good race which showed promise, but 30 others that have really shown him to be a hack. Truly sad state of affairs if this goes through. I don’t think Chilton has done enough to even warrant keeping his Marussia seat let alone taking an opportunity to compete away from the Hulk or Di Resta.

Seeing the way Lotus are handling the Raikkonen situation and also the Heidfeld issue previously, why would any half-decent driver want to be assosciated with such a team. It’s clear that quite a few member’s of the Lotus hierarchy like to carry a grudge. The way their top driver and engineers are jumping ship and the way sponsors are refusing to come on board, it’s clear that the team are on the slippery slope to being the backmarker’s of the grid. Hope Hulkenberg stays at Sauber or goes back to Force India. Wouldn’t want a talent like him to be circulating as a backmarker.

Pity seeing money talking louder than talent these days – unless you’re a superstar “out of the box” in the lines of Hamilton, Vettel…

As for Kimi’s profane instruction to get out of the way…here’s a conspiracy theory for you…we have same situation where Grosjean leads Massa with Kimi ahead of both…imagine if Kimi helped his new employers for next year by “getting in the way” so that Massa can get past both…a 2 finger salute to Lotus on track!

He’s a racer, and we know he won’t do that…as he wants to score points himeslef and end top-3 and get some silverware (i’m sure having something nice to put your Ice in would be incentive enough LOL)

It seems to me that Lotus have no choice but to take Pasta’s money, they need to regain some leverage with Quantum who will be holding out for a better price.I agree hat Hulk and PDR will make a great FIndia team, surely Sutil has had his chances?

Niko Hulkenberg undoubtedly has a size problem and a weight problem: his sponsorship pool is too small, and his wallet not heavy enough.

The driver market has too many tipping points to make any predictions right now. Perhaps rumours of Chilton moving to Force India could create an opening for Hulkenberg there? Him and Sutil in the same team might not have worked, but him and Chilton might.

2014 will be a transitional season – while big budgets will always help, some teams could be surprisingly strong, and others surprisingly weak. For 2015, I expect another wave of driver movements, starting at the top, and filtering down through the ranks. The main target should be to get any seat for 2014, and then try to move to the right team for 2015.

It is hard to understand how a team still in the fight for the second spot in both championships, can not been seen as an attractive prospect for sponsors. I know winning is everything to many, but second best still carries some bragging rights no?

I suppose the departure of key people, does not help with how Lotus potential looks for 2014. Hope they won’t fall out in comparison to Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, too much or at all. I am no expert in this, but it does look a bit that way. Marc

Though i’d be greatly dissapointed in Hulk not getting the drive in Lotus or a competitive team, people seem to forget Maldonado delivered a win when Williams gave him a car capable of winning. So if he delivered in Lotus then no big harm. Hope Hulk lands on his feet somewhere though.

I was checking some numbers to try and put sense on the discussion of who should go with whom.I hope I did not make any mistake. This compares the points FOR THE WHOLE 2012 SEASON with 2013 up to and including India.

Sebastian +41
Alonso -71
Kimi -24
Lewis -21
Webber -31
Rosberg +51
Grosgean +06
Jenson -128
Hulkemberg -24
Perez -33
Pastor -44
Sutil +28
Ricciardo +19
I know there are 3 more races, but the general feeling is that MOST drivers are in a worst position than last year.Only,Sebastian, Nico R and Sutil seem to escape the tendency.Please comment . I am more confused now.

How sad for F1 that Hulkenberg who in all probability is as quick as Hamilton and quicker than Kimi or Alonso will be wasting another season in a midfield team that struggles to get into Q3. Maldonado is no better than Bottas at the end of the day.

Looks like 2014 will be another season with the same old faces fighting for the championship. Hulkenberg would have been a legitimate championship threat with a competitive car. Can’t see Ferrari winning a championship with two drivers who struggle to qualify higher than the 3rd or 4th row. I guess it’s down to Hamilton, but he seems inconsistent these days. He has off days, whereas Vettel has two off days in a bad season (2012) and zero off days in a good season (2013).